To Make Things Personal
by PinkFan-Gurl
Summary: He was going to show her that he was worthy of the faith she put into him. Canon compliment


**To Make Things Personal**

...

 _He was going to show her that he was worthy of the faith she put into him._

...

Natsu threw a final nasty snarl in Sabertooth's direction before returning to Lucy's side.

Gray held her to his chest, his face grim while he watched Wendy and Chelia use their healing magic. Despite the blue glow that bloomed around Lucy's body, the healing magic seemed to be doing little; her body continued to shudder and her skin was bright pink with fresh wounds, purple where it was beginning to bruise. An ugly gash was seeping blood above her right eyebrow.

Natsu had seen Lucy in rough shape before, but never had she been this bad. And to make it worse, she's on the brink of death and for what? A stupid game?

Lucy had been able to hold her own against the Oracion Seis and Grimoire Heart and now all of a sudden she's nearly beaten to death for a silly tournament because Sabertooth doesn't have sportsmanship?

Natsu bared his teeth, a deep growl rising in the back of his throat as he remembered how Minerva held Lucy by the throat, dropping her to earth. Revenge was in order, and he knew that everyone in the guild felt the same as he did. This was no longer about who was the best guild in Fiore; no, Sabertooth made this personal and Natsu was sure as hell going to finish it.

Wendy collapsed into herself, sweat beating across her brow. "I did all I could," she panted weakly. Chelia ceased her own treatment, breathing heavily from her own efforts. "We need to get her to Grandina."

"Who?" Erza asked.

"She means Porlyusica." Gray shifted himself beneath Lucy, then hoisted her up. "Come on," he said gruffly, trying to be as gentle as possible.

For some reason, Natsu felt upset that Gray was the one carrying Lucy. What if he was too rough while carrying her and only injured her more? What if his ice wizard body was too cold for her fragile state? He glanced over to Juvia, surprised to see that she didn't look the least bit jealous that Gray's attention was on someone else. In fact, she looked as stoic as ever.

Natsu decided that if she could keep it together, then he could too.

Mira appeared on the balcony where the rest of the guild stood. Natsu couldn't help noticing that all of his friends, even sweet Lisanna, were glaring daggers in Sabertooth's direction. "Get her to the infirmary!" Mira called. Her hands were cupped around her mouth like a megaphone. "There's a bed prepared for her!"

Natsu stayed close to Gray's side, glancing over the ice wizard's shoulder every few seconds to see if Lucy had woken up. She didn't.

…

Natsu watched as the blonde rolled back over, too exhausted to stay awake after even just a few seconds of consciousness.

It pained him to see his best friend in this state, but even more so, it filled him with a vengeful spark. Sabertooth was going to pay, especially with the new team that Gramps put together. Sure, it was kind of annoying that he would have to deal with Gajeel now as well as Gray, but it would be worth it. He owed it to Lucy.

Slowly, the room began to filter out until it was the original Fairy Tail Team A clustered around Lucy's bed. Wendy sat on the mattress, gently pressing a damp cloth to one of the blonde's open wounds. Gray paced in front of the door until he collapsed into one of the chairs. Erza regarded Lucy with a small smile, perhaps deep in thought. Natsu just wanted to see her brown eyes open again.

It had barely been two hours since the fight with Minerva, but it felt like years. She'd been completely unconscious except for the brief time she had awoken to receive her keys.

"She's going to be okay, right Wendy?" Natsu pulled a chair close enough to the bedside so that his knees brushed against the mattress.

Wendy wrung the rag in her hands over a bowl before dotting Lucy's exposed arm again. "I-I think so," her voice quivered, hesitating slightly with the rag poised over Lucy. "She made it through the worst of it thanks to Grandina."

No one bothered to correct her. Frowning, Natsu reached out to touch his palm to the celestial wizard's forehead. Now his body temperature may run higher due to being a fire mage, but he knew for a fact that she was radiating an unnatural amount of heat. "Hey, Wendy, maybe you should do that to her head. She's burnin' up."

Wendy quickly dropped her cloth and pressed the back of her hand to her friend's head. "Oh my gosh, you're right!"

Gray crouched down beside Lucy's side before Natsu could say anything else. "Fever," Gray muttered, pressing his own palm to Lucy's head. Her body instantly stopped shuddering and she seemed to melt into his touch. "That should help ease it a bit."

Natsu tried to keep himself from getting too bent out of shape about it, but he never wanted to punch Gray so bad in his life.

Erza traced the tip of her pinky finger over Lucy's eyebrows and cheeks in a motherly way. "We should leave her be so she can rest," she suggested calmly, though her tone made it sound like she'd rather stay. "We have a match soon that we must prepare for."

Gray stood, offering one final look of what could only be labeled as a mixture of sadness and hatred before exiting the room. Erza kissed the tips of her two forefingers and touched them to Lucy's head. "We'll win for you, Lucy," she vowed.

Natsu waited until she had left before standing. He knew Wendy was watching, but he wasn't over worried about her. If Happy were there, then things would be different, but fortunately he and Carla had rushed off to see if they could scrape up some kind of meal that Luce could stomach when she woke.

Resting a fist on either side of Lucy, Natsu leaned forward on the bed until he was leaning directly over her. Her breathing was short and ragged; no doubt she had experienced some sort prolonged damage to her ribcage. It all just made him so angry!

How could people treat another person so poorly in what is clearly not a real fight? The goal was to prove and demonstrate strength, not nearly murder each other.

Lowering himself gently as to not disturb her wounds, Natsu touched his forehead to Lucy's and twirled a finger in her hair. She wasn't as warm as before, probably thanks to Gray's magic. "I promise, Luce," he whispered, "I promise that we'll be the best guild in Fiore again. You'll see."

Sitting back up, he was pleasantly surprised to see a small smile twitch at the corner of Lucy's lips. Take that, Gray.

Natsu loosened his scarf as he walked past Wendy towards the door. "Take good care of her, Wendy," he said.

"Wait!" Wendy grabbed Natsu by the tail of his jacket, effectively stopping him. When he prompted her to continue, he hadn't been expecting her embarrassed blush and nervous stutter. "Natsu? D-do you l-lo-ove, uh love, Lucy?"

Natsu regarded her for sometime, unsure of what to say. Did he love Lucy? She was kind of a weirdo and an annoying one at that. Clearly there were reasons why she was still single. Then again, she was his best friend and he would be lost without her….

"I don't know what love feels like," he decided to say. "But Lucy is probably the closest I'll ever come to that word."

He smiled cheerfully, satisfied with his response as he strided down the hall while leaving a blushing Wendy behind him.

…

She started to twitch, instantly filling him with relief.

He had come back directly following Lyon and Kagura's match, hoping to catch her while she was awake before his own match. She was still out cold with when he arrived.

Natsu started to get worried she wasn't going to be awake in time before he had to leave, but then her eyes suddenly opened. He leaned forward slowly as her eyes focused in on him. "Hey," he greet softly with a smile, "feeling any better?"

Lucy blinked, a small grin taking the place of the frown that had adorned her lips as she slept. Grunting slightly, she pushed herself to sit up, slightly upsetting him since she should limit her movements, but he was honestly just happy that she felt well enough to move. "I'm getting there," she responded.

Natsu could tell by her tone that she was still exhausted, and trying to keep it together for his sake. "Is your match about to start?" Lucy asked, breaking him from his thoughts.

He nodded slightly. "Yep. And I'm gonna win it for sure."

Lucy smiled softly, her eyes falling to the comforter on her bed. Natsu quirked his head to the side, watching her carefully. She looked sad, but she didn't smell sad which meant there had to be some sort of conflicting emotions she was dealing with. He hoped she didn't still blame herself for the fight with Flare or the major loss with Minerva because neither were her fault.

Lucy tilted her head, eyes darting from her hands to the blankets and then back to her hands. "Natsu?" she whispered, slowly meeting his eyes.

"Huh?" he asked.

She smiled at him warmly, her blush even brighter against the white bandages on her face. "I want you to know that I believe in you, okay? Since the very beginning, I've always believed in you. And I know you'll make Fairy Tail proud this time too." She smiled again, bigger than before.

Natsu nodded with a grin, unsure of what to say out loud, but he knew that she understood how he felt; that he was going to do everything in his power and even beyond that to make her proud of him. Rising from his chair, Natsu leaned over her for the second time that day, touching his forehead to Lucy's gently.

She didn't gasp or reel back from him, but he did feel the spike of her heartbeat. "I know, Luce," he murmured, caressing her blonde hair. He inched back so that he was looking at her and used his thumb to brush her bangs out of her brown eyes. "And that's why I'm going to win. I'm not doing this just for the guild anymore, but for you."

He offered one last smiled before standing up. It might be inconsiderate of him, but found the way Lucy's face was flushed rather amusing.

Even before the door swung open, he could smell Wendy and Carla on the other side. "Sorry to burst in on you like this, but we just wanted to check in on you and see how you were feeling," Wendy said.

"Hello, Natsu," Carla greeted, sounding a bit surprised since his match was due to start any second.

"Thanks for taking care of her," he said as walked past them. "I know she's in good hands."

"Sure!" Wendy chirped enthusiastically. "Good luck on your match! Have fun!"

The last thing that Natsu heard as he rounded the corner was Carla commenting to Lucy about her grin. He smirked at that.

Yeah, he was gonna win this for Fairy Tail. Because he wanted to be the one who made Lucy smile like that again.

...

more nalu, perhaps?

12/11/16


End file.
